Saturday, April 15, 2017

Roku UK Channel Store - Weekly RoundUp #214

Hi, everyone !!

As far as Roku-specific news is concerned, the ONE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT to emerge from the company HQ in Los Gatos during the past seven days was about the release of a minor update to the Roku OS from 'Version 7.5' to 'Version 7.6' that, according to Ilya Asnis (SVP, Roku OS), will bring "some exciting new features" to the operating system for all current generation devices (i.e. those Roku models released after May 2011). However, it only takes a quick look at the release notes for Roku OS 7.6 to see that the main focus of this latest update is 'Roku TV' models which (as most UK Roku users will be aware) are not available for purchase in the United Kingdom. When you get right down to the details, the only "improvements" that will effect Roku users in the UK are confined to a few minor bug fixes which most will likely not even be aware of.

That said, I do recommend that readers of this blog from other Roku "regions", where 'Roku TV' is available, take a look at the original post from the "Official" Roku Stream Blog... since it contains a basic overview of some important changes such as a new feature, called "More Ways to Watch", that recognises shows & movies you’re watching via Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology. While the "More Ways to Watch" feature can be turned on or off (at any time) through the Roku TV 'Settings' menu... if you choose to turn off "More Ways to Watch" after it was first enabled, then you should be aware that viewing info collected prior to the feature being turned off will not be deleted!

Needless to say, this does raise one or two privacy concerns... although Roku does state that the idea of the "More Ways to Watch" feature is purely to suggest additional viewing options that can enhance the overall user experience. These "additional viewing options" may include the ability to watch your current content from the beginning, watch more episodes of the same show, and/or view suggestions for similar content that is available to stream. There have been several articles published that point to the possible unsavoury side of this feature (you can look them up online, if you so wish) but, in the interest of fairness, Roku have made it clear that: "You’ll be required to enable the feature via an opt-in prompt" once the feature does become available... or else, when setting up a new 'Roku TV' model, such as when "More Ways to Watch" is made available on 4K Roku TV models later this Summer.

Other changes to the Roku OS for 'Roku TV' users include: "Updates to Live TV Pause", as well as the ability to create a "Favorite Channels List" for the Roku TV tuner (when you have a broadcast antenna connected to your Roku TV) and "Custom Input Naming" so you can assign custom names to your 'Roku TV' input icons, plus "Faster Resume From Standby" for HD Roku TV models. All of these changes are covered in more detail via the links (shared previously) in this post. Those of you who are into Roku channel development may like to read this slightly more in-depth post from the "Official" Roku Developers' Blog. Meanwhile... any developers, content partners, or advertisers (as well as anyone else) who would like information on SDK updates pertaining to this latest Roku OS will find full details in the 'Roku SDK Documentation' which accompanies this release! ;-) :-)

One thing I wasn't prepared for, when Roku indicated that Roku OS 7.6 would "...roll out over the next few weeks" and "...be complete before June", was that my UK Roku devices would receive the new software version only one day later, as evidenced by this screenshot from when I first broke the news via the companion Twitter Feed to this blog: @ukrokuchannels on Wednesday 12th April:-

Unfortunately, as quick as the new Roku OS 7.6 was rolled-out in the UK... it was then rolled-back (almost immediately) to Roku OS 7.5 and I'm not entirely sure why!?!! One theory is that someone at Roku accidentally triggered the update for UK Roku devices ahead of schedule (as has happened in the past, from time-to-time) but, unsurprisingly, there has been no "official" explanation by Roku as to the reasons behind this "now you see it, now you don't" trickery with the latest software version. Another possibility which, after some consideration, I believe may lie somewhere closer to the truth of the matter... is that UK Roku user Ben Davis [Twitter Feed: @BenDavis__] reported an issue when using 'Netflix' on his Roku, which occurred only after the update to Roku OS 7.6 was installed. From what I can gather, via the snippets of information shared via Twitter on Wednesday, the update to the Roku OS may have led to an issue whereby 'Netflix' now crashes immediately when it is launched. According to Ben, the splash screen will still show, but loading will time out and nothing happens...Another Roku channel that has been causing problems recently (even prior to the Roku OS update) is 'BBC iPlayer' which, for some UK Roku users (and NowTV Box owners), was giving an "Error 404" message and preventing streamers from accessing the content they wanted to catch-up on. Although the techies at The Beeb made some changes to the app, it seems that problems still exist for some users which may (or may not) be specific to particular Roku and/or NowTV Box models. Here is a screenshot of the latest announcement (on Friday 14th April) from the BBC iPlayer website:-

HINT:- Please CLICK on the above image TO ENLARGE IT for easier viewing !!

If you are one of those people who are unfortunate to have been affected by this, I recommend that you make a point of checking the latest announcements on this issue from the BBC iPlayer website until such a time as the matter has been fully resolved. Both the BBC and Roku are aware that there is a problem and, as I understand it, they are currently working together to find a solution. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before they find a "fix" for this... as there are many streamers who rely on having Video-On-Demand (VOD) access to content, via catch-up services like BBC iPlayer, as they cannot always watch their favourite programming according to the broadcast schedule. Needless to say, I'll do my best to keep you all appraised of the situation both on this blog and via Twitter! ;-) :-)

By way of an update to other news stories from recent 'Weekly RoundUp' posts on this blog, I'm afraid there appears to have been no progress made with restoring the 'Deezer' app to working status and, as reported last week, the Roku channel is still crashing-out before loading the main menu and causing devices to return to the Roku 'Home Screen' almost immediately after the 'Splash Screen' for the 'Deezer' app has been displayed. That's certainly been my experience... but, if any of you have also had problems with 'Deezer' on Roku, I'd like to hear from you (either by leaving a comment below, or via social media) to ascertain just how widespread this problem with 'Deezer' on Roku is.

It's not all bad news this week, though, with my having received word from 'TVPlayer' that they now "...have everything in place", in respect of their forthcoming app for UK Roku devices and are simply "...waiting for a go-ahead", meaning there is (hopefully) "not long to go!" before Roku UK users can access both free and premium content from 'TVPlayer' on Roku streaming media players in the UK. Here is a screenshot from when I first shared the news via social media during the week:-

While we wait (with bated breath) for the imminent arrival of 'TVPlayer' on Roku devices in the UK, as with other recent 'Weekly RoundUp' posts, I'm going to ask you to refer back to the companion Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels for details of some special offers which may also be of interest. Although the deal on 'Roku 2' [Model: 4205EU] from Maplin (which I shared previously) is over, that model is now being heavily discounted by several of the other "Recommended Roku Retailers" here in the UK. So be sure to check-out my tweets from the past week if you're interested in buying that or the 'Roku 3' flagship device, both of which are being offered with substantial savings! With any luck, this is a prelude to the launch of new Roku models for Roku UK purchasers... but, with no "Official" word from Roku on the subject, we'll just have to wait and see. Meanwhile... another offer that may be of interest to UK Roku users, is a deal from Wuaki TV UK for a Roku Streaming Stick plus an 'HD' copy of the "Interstellar" movie at only £27.99 for both - including delivery! :-)

In addition to this special promotion from Wuaki TV UK, I also posted details of the access codes to some more private channels (again, available in all regions) among the various bits & pieces shared via my Twitter Feed: @ukrokuchannels... so, it's worth checking my tweets for some extra treats! ;-)

Anyway, as has often been the case of late... the current list of new additions (once again) starts with two channels that, despite being new to UK Roku devices, are not listed in the "New" category (i.e. genre) of the Roku UK Channel Store. Blogging specifically about Roku streaming devices & Roku-related matters, I love discovering apps like these... because they illustrate precisely why it's worth reading the 'Weekly RoundUp' posts on this blog. Any Roku users who simply rely on whatever they see listed under the "New" category in the built-in channel store of their streaming media players (to identify the latest apps for UK Roku devices) risk missing-out on channels like this altogether. Other websites offering Roku channel listings will base their contents on the Roku USA Channel Store, which means they also include apps that are unavailable to Roku UK users. So, if you really want to know what's available to UK Roku users channel-wise... be sure to read this blog every week! ;-) :-)

However, before I run through the new channels... a reminder that UK Roku users are still subject to restrictions (imposed by Roku) and (bizarrely) remain unable to access the channel descriptions from the web store on the Roku (USA) website. That said, the majority of text in those web listings can also be found within the individual descriptions from the built-in "Channel Store" (accessed via "Streaming Channels" from the main menu) on all Roku devices and, together with the associated screenshots (where available), should give a pretty good indication of what those channels are about.

My advice to any UK-based readers of this blog is to ignore the links below (and to the left of) each channel icon shown here and (instead) rely on the link to the right (below each channel icon) which (where available) will redirect you to an 'Roku Guide' review for additional details on that channel. As it stands, the links below (and to the left of) each icon are (currently) only of use to readers of this blog from the USA. This means that Roku users from the other "supported" regions of the world (i.e. Ireland, Canada, France and Mexico) are, like those of us in the UK, unable to browse the Roku Web Channel Store - which for now (at least) remains an exclusive privilege of Roku users in the USA. :-(

Hopefully Roku will (one day) wake-up to the fact that improving the experience for users in "other" Roku "regions" is just as important as it is for those who buy & use their products in the U.S. and denying access to the Roku website does not help the end-user experience for those of us (outside the USA) who wish to browse the web channel store. Meanwhile, that which Roku (apparently) doesn't want UK Roku users to see on their website (i.e. the list of new channels) is regularly summarised on this blog in my 'Weekly RoundUp' posts. So, without further ado, here's my 'Weekly RoundUp' of all the new Roku channels released between the 9th and the 15th of April 2017:-